As Taylor explained in a press box interview
conducted alongside the song’s debut, which took place at Boston’s
Fenway Park prior to the Sox’s game against the New York Yankees
yesterday, he was inspired to write “Angels of Fenway” after the team
won the World Series in 2004, snapping an 86-year title drought.
Joyous as that occasion may have been for Taylor, the song didn’t
come together quickly; in fact, he admits that it took him a decade to
finish the lyrics, and he was only able to complete the verses after
deciding to “sequester” himself on a series of week-long retreats. As he
puts it, “It took me a long time to get back into the saddle of writing
lyrics again.”
“Angels of Fenway” will doubtless come as a soothing dose of Taylor cheer for Red Sox fans, but as Deadspin
notes, those painstakingly compiled lyrics present a rather inaccurate
picture of the team’s rivalry with the Yankees, including a line about
how the “Damn Yankees … outspending everybody two-to-one” that neglects to mention the Sox outspent everyone but the Yankees.
Quibbles aside, “Angels of Fenway” is very much a James Taylor song,
which augurs well for fans who’ve been patiently waiting more than a
dozen years for an album of new material. Check out Before This World‘s first single, “Today Today Today,” below.

Raccolte

James Taylor continues the slow buildup to the June 16 release of his new Before This World LP with the debut of the album track “Angels of Fenway.”
As Taylor explained in a press box interview
conducted alongside the song’s debut, which took place at Boston’s
Fenway Park prior to the Sox’s game against the New York Yankees
yesterday, he was inspired to write “Angels of Fenway” after the team
won the World Series in 2004, snapping an 86-year title drought.
Joyous as that occasion may have been for Taylor, the song didn’t
come together quickly; in fact, he admits that it took him a decade to
finish the lyrics, and he was only able to complete the verses after
deciding to “sequester” himself on a series of week-long retreats. As he
puts it, “It took me a long time to get back into the saddle of writing
lyrics again.”
“Angels of Fenway” will doubtless come as a soothing dose of Taylor cheer for Red Sox fans, but as Deadspin
notes, those painstakingly compiled lyrics present a rather inaccurate
picture of the team’s rivalry with the Yankees, including a line about
how the “Damn Yankees … outspending everybody two-to-one” that neglects to mention the Sox outspent everyone but the Yankees.
Quibbles aside, “Angels of Fenway” is very much a James Taylor song,
which augurs well for fans who’ve been patiently waiting more than a
dozen years for an album of new material. Check out Before This World‘s first single, “Today Today Today,” below.